Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-08-25
A GOOD SCHOOL TRADE.

The Kind of Business Done by Candy
and Cigarette Shops in New York.
"nANDY, cigars, stationery and notion store;
" doing good school trade. - East - ST.
HnANDY STORE, opposite big public school;
" first class trade In confectionery, cigarettes
and stationery. Apply at - West 81"
A Young man with a few hundred dollars
to invest answered several of these advertise
ments In each case he found small dingy
shop with great heaps of painted candy, pack
ages Of cheap cigarettes and plentiful supplies
Of blood and thunder literature on the
shelves. A few dusty school books completed
the stock. In each case, too, the little shop
was near a public school Some nestled close
up to the big buildings. Others were across
the street or on corners diagonally situated.
All were less than stones throw distant
HOur trade comes almost exclusively from
the school children" said the proprietor of
one grimy little shop. @They are lively Gus
toners before and after school and at recess.
This is the dull season, because vacation has
Just begun. Trade will pick up again in Sep
tember Then it is sure and steady until
spring. Last year made a nst profit of no
less than 81 200
"The demand for school books must be
pretty heavy"
SOh, no; we sell very few school books"
EWhst do you sell that makes your trade
so pro6tablei7
SCandy and cigarettes, principally You'd
be surprised at the quantity Of candy those
youngsters devour. The little boys and girls
rush in here with their pennies and buy
stick OF painted candy whenever they get the
chance All the larger boys buy cigarette
or two every day. It's only penny business,
of course, with penny profits. But when you
take care Of the pennies the dollarsu take
care Of themselves, you know. Why, 1 made
500 clear profit last year on candies alone.
For, to tell the truth, the sweet stuff is the
very cheapest sort. But the children like it
Just as well l wouldn't sell out at all if it
were not that am going TO leave town be-
fore fall, when trade viii be resumed at its
Lveliest"
Similar statements were made by all the
other candy store advertisers, and strong in
ducements to purchase were held out to the
young man. Being of nice moral sense,
however, he decided not to invest in bust
ness which seemed to him like corrupting the
rising generation by supplying them with
cheap and perhaps poisonous painted candy
and cigarettes. This idea impressed him
~ ctAOnSl1 bA4db nC dShOQ q cC1OOl
cipal about it.
"You are right" said he. "This candy
shop business is one of the most pernicious
features Of school life. We call the shops
candy hells.' The red, green, blue and yell
low coloring matter annually used in its
manufacture would paint the town in alter
nate stripes from the Battery to Harlem
bridge Five cents worth of the stuff would
lay professional athlete on his back for
week, but forty pound schoolboy can con-
sumo five cents worth every day for six
months and be a sixty-pound schoolboy at the
end OF that period. The ways Of the in
fantile stomach are inscrutable, and even the
candy shop cannot affect it. Still, these
candy bells are literally training schools for
future generations Of dyspeptics and men
with handmade sets of teeth. But we are
powerless to prevent it.'-New York Sun.
Cutting Down Expenses.
GPullem," said Dakota real estate agent,
in town which is enjoying boom, to his part
ner, II closed the deal with that man from
Philadelphia"
SIS that soin
"Yes, he takes the five lots, and pays
$4,000. Let's figure up and see how we came
out on Them
@Well, they cost US 81, 900"
"Yes, and it took about $500 to treat and
entertain that man from Chicago whom we
tried to seli to-"
@And let the St Paul man beat me out of
$500 at poker in the hope of selling to him."
"Then l cashed bogus draft Of $3.50 for
that man from New York, and then he
skipped out without buying"
"Then that Iowa man took up two days of
our time at $50 dayn
Eyes, and said he wanted to think about it
before buying. And then the St. Louis man
/ took home to dinner with me, he stole silver
ware to the value of $l5 and skipped like the
rest"
GAnd paid $40 drunk and disorderly fine
for the Milwaukee man."
"We mustn't forget to figure in about $50
for livery bills"
mo, nor $25 for spending half day to go
to church with that Boston man."
%And put down 800 for advertising and $50
that had to pay Jones for keeping still when
he accidentally overheard me tell this man
we sold to that the marsh just behind the lots
was an artificial lake put in by the city at a
cost of $4,000"
"Lets ssee-total s., ,O5O-profts 81, $50. That
won't hardly do-we've got to make more
than that
~Yes, we must cut down expenses on the
next deal somewhere. guess we had better
not spend time going to church with any more
men.n-Dakota Bell